An Iranian group tagged as a foreign terrorist organization since 1997
has challenged the Secretary of State's designation of the group in court. According
to legal experts the group may have a real chance, as the circumstances since
the original designation have substantially changed.

The case was heard by the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on
Tuesday, January 12. The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran v. US
Department of State, is yet another chapter in the group's unrelenting battle
to clear its name from terror lists in Europe and the United States.

The PMOI has won hard-fought legal battles in Britain and Europe as
competent courts ruled to remove it from terror lists on grounds that there is
no evidence to support a terror designation.

The State Department claims that it can designate the group as
"terrorist" by merely resting on classified information, the veracity
of which is unknown, despite the fact that the group's members, mostly in a
refugee camp in Iraq, are voluntarily disarmed and internationally protected
persons. The PMOI has refuted any connection to terrorism. Its leaders
continually call for democratic change in Iran as it has shown its commitment
to the rule of law everywhere in exile.

The State Department branded PMOI (MEK) as an FTO in 1997 in what a former
administration official described as a goodwill gesture to the Iranian
government. A policy that stemmed from a naÃ¯ve reading of Iran and based the
FTO designation on politically expedient foreign policy goals rather than
facts, the PMOI contends.

PMOI officials content that hampering the movement was a strategic
mistake that set back the goal for a pluralistic, secular democracy in a
non-nuclear Iran, and peace in the region.

But how can the PMOI possibly plea a case if the evidence against it is
wholly classified? In court on Tuesday, the Secretary of State's counsel
admitted that former Secretary Rice, who denied the group's petition in January
2009, relied entirely on classified material to do so.

"Did you provide them with unclassified material before the
January 2009 decision?" asked Judge David S. Tatel of Douglas Letter, the
Secretary of State's counsel. "Not really," replied Letter.

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"Are you arguing on behalf of the Secretary of State that the
unclassified portion of the administrative record provides substantial support
for her decision?" asked Judge Tatel. "We are not, Your Honor,"
replied Letter.

Andrew Frey, the PMOI counsel argued, "I don't know what's in the
classified record. However, we're confident that there is nothing of any
substance there." Frey pointed to the State Department's decision to
review the PMOI's case in just 2 years even if the organization does not
petition for a review, and said "I would not believe that she would have made
such a statement if there was substantial support in the classified material
for the proposition that the PMOI is engaged in terrorism."

"The second part of what you just said is almost certainly
true," observed Senior Judge Stephen E. Williams.

The three-judge panel clearly voiced skepticism that the evidence
offered substantial support for the Secretary of State's case.

Judge Tatel probed the Department's legal counsel on the veracity of highly
questionable information of unknown origin. "The report says at the end
that the ultimate source of the information was unknown, that the motivation
behind it was unknown and the veracity of it was unknown. Does our standard of
review allow us to say that the Secretary of State cannot rely on that sort of
evidence?" asked Judge Tatel.

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Despite the proscriptions, PMOI took its case to courts in the EU and
US. Resorting to the legal recourse makes one thing clear: the PMOI is both
confident of its conduct and serious in its commitment to democracy and rule of
law.

Nearly 100 people, mostly PMOI supporters, showed up in court on
Tuesday. Many Iranian-Americans are keenly hoping that the legal battle will
finally allow them to channel their opposition to Iran's theocracy through the
PMOI which they regard as the leading organization in the Iranian resistance
movement.

"This is a critical time for Iran, in which decision-makers in the
US and elsewhere, are making decisions about policy towards Iran. The PMOI is a
key player in that debate...yet neither it nor its members or sympathizers
are allowed to participate in the debate," lead counsel for PMOI argued in
court. "The court's role is not simply to rubberstamp the Secretary of
State's decision," he pleaded.